TIME FOR A NEW LOOK?
Call for Canucks to change logo
Shannon Leddy is an assistant professor at UBC. She is Métis. She has a long-standing understanding of Indigenous issues. And she's a huge sports fan.
When Sean Carleton, a University of Manitoba professor of Indigenous studies and history, suggested this week that the Vancouver Canucks scrap the orca logo out of respect — believing the NHL club has profited from appropriating an art style that contains elements of Haida design and thus hurting Indigenous people — it wasn't surprising to Leddy.
With the Cleveland Indians, Washington Redskins and Edmonton Eskimos going through respectful name changes, she said the discussion about the Canucks' logo is an encouraging sign of changing times.
“I know how much people love their logos and sports teams, and I'm a Whitecaps supporter,” said Leddy, whose specialty is decolonizing education and Indigenous education within teacher education. “It gives us all a point of unity when we're wearing the same thing, but when we see teams like the Indians and Eskimos reckoning with these issues, this is a good place to start that conversation with the Canucks.
“The artist who originally designed the logo in 1997, Brent Lynch, is not an Indigenous person. He's local and I'm sure nobody had any ill intent when the logo was commissioned. But it's an example of cultural naiveté.
“If the Canucks want to be good neighbours and good community members, it's a really good time to have a conversation about changing the logo.”
Carleton said a non-Indigenous artist can produce Indigenous-inspired works, but should do so only with consent and with a community connection. He said the Canucks should work with Indigenous people and allow them to be included in future designs. It would provide a platform for education and a means to benefit First Nations people.
“Indigenous stories have been excluded from Canadian curriculums, so people can profit from intellectual property with impunity because they just don't know any better,” added Leddy. “Half of my family is not Indigenous, so I've had to learn to do this work with love and care.
“In my own practice as a teacher-educator, most of our students haven't been exposed to any education of Indigenous people. We can introduce Indigenous stories and that definitely didn't happen when I was going to high school in Saskatoon in the 1980s.
“But we're well past that moment, now. We have to look at what is the benefit to the Canucks' organization of capitalizing on an iconic, local artistic style? How could the Canucks go forward in a better way? I can name six artists in the Musqueam ( band) and there are Salish artists and Squamish artists and Kwantlen and so on. I don't think we can look back in anger, but I do think we have to look forward together and understand the protocols of how we commission Indigenous art and who gets to profit from it.”
The fuse to the logo debate was lit when the new Canucks goaltender, Braden Holtby, displayed his new mask late last week. It was designed by Dave Gunnarsson and borrowed Indigenous design elements, including depicting a powerful and mythical Coast Salish Thunderbird that often crowns totem poles. To his credit, Holtby said he learned a lesson about Indigenous art, its history and cultural importance.
“A great place to start would be to look at the local community for Indigenous artists who might have the time and Canuck pride and be delighted to design a logo for the team,” said Leddy.
“It would be an excellent thing to do. And it could be done with fan participation as well to build relationships.
“This is a problem we're coming to terms with around the world. And with all the focus on Black Lives Matter and anti-racism, this is a really great time to figure out how we're going to work together. Even the totem poles at Stanley Park are some examples of appropriation and I think of this stuff all the time — even as a Whitecaps season ticket holder.
“Every time (fans) did the thing that mimicked the tomahawk chop from the Atlanta Braves, I just couldn't make my arm do that. These are insensitivities that Indigenous people carry with us all of the time and even our friends aren't aware where these (sports) traditions come from and that they might be problematic.”
On Tuesday, Canucks officials conducted an internal Zoom call to address the logo discussion and were expected to issue a statement. However, they had not commented by deadline.
Leddy summed it up like this: “I hope Canuck fans, if they feel upset by this conversation, will approach this as an opportunity, as opposed to something being taken away.”
I hope Canucks fans, if they feel upset by this conversation, will approach this as an opportunity, as opposed to something being taken away.